Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Do Moral Foundations Predict Views On Morally Contested Issues?, Mackenzie Maria Moreno

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The following research utilized Moral Foundations Theory to evaluate individuals on the five moral foundations (harm/care, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation) and liberalism-conservatism as predictors for views on morally controversial topics. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, some of the most morally contested issues were abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, and changing one’s gender. This study sourced participants from LinkedIn and then Sona (DePaul University’s undergraduate subject pool) using a blended phasing plan to ensure a politically diverse sample (N =213). This research replicated findings from Graham et al. (2009) that liberals and conservatives operate from different moral foundations. This study also extended …

Social Zapping: Examining Predictors Of Last-Minute Cancelations Among Community Members, Alyssa T. Altieri

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Social zapping refers to the tendency to cancel plans or appointments shortly before they are supposed to take place in order to attend plans deemed “better” than the original (Müller et al., 2020). With the recent global pandemic occurring and forced isolation presenting as a consequence, the population more than ever has turned to technology to keep up with their relationships (Pennington, 2021). Because of this, social zapping has become increasingly prevalent. Although there is clear need to assess social zapping, few empirical studies have been conducted regarding the predictors and implications of social zapping (Müller et al., 2020; 2021). …

How We Feel About Numbers: The Impact Of Framing And Number Format On Emotion And Decision Making, Kwame Poku-Acheampong

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The impact of framing and number format on people’s comprehension of and feelings about information they encounter has been documented and replicated (Kühne et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2019, 2021). However, existing research does not extend beyond specific feelings such as anger and fear. The goal of this thesis was to address this gap by broadening the scope of affect from specific emotions to positive and negative affect. This thesis also aimed to extend the line of research to investigate how message frames and numerical formats impact comprehension, feelings, perceived issue seriousness, and judgements by using a 2 (Frame: …

Balanced Negotiations: An Online Negotiation Training For Women, Kaitlyn Rose Gallagher

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Research has identified consistent differences in the processes and outcomes of negotiation between women and men (Mazei et al., 2015; Stuhlmacher & Walter, 1999), but there has been little investigation into different types of negotiation trainings specifically for women (Barkacs & Barkacs, 2017; Kulik et al., 2020). This study developed and evaluated an online evidence-based negotiation training for women. Using a pretest-posttest randomly assigned control group design, 95 early career female participants completed three short self-guided online training modules. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), with pretest scores used as a covariate to reduce error variance, found that the intervention had a …

The Protective Effects Of Physical Activity Coping And Environmental Supports On Academic Stress Among Adolescents, Taylor Swenski

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to identify how physical activity (PA) coping interacts with environmental risks and resources to predict youth mental health. Academic stress poses a threat to adolescent wellbeing, and has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety. Previous research has established that engaging in PA protects adolescents from depression and anxiety. However, very little is known about how PA may function as a coping mechanism, specifically (i.e. PA coping). PA is influenced by risks (e.g. crime, low built environment quality, etc.) and resources (e.g. accessibility, exercise equipment, etc.) in one’s environment, and accordingly, the present …

Exclusion, Extroversion, And Relationship-Related Thought Accessibility, Stacey L. Kruse

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to examine the relationship between social exclusion and relationship-related thought accessibility together with the potential moderating influence of extroversion. After completing a personality measure, a sample of 250 participants (M_age = 19.3 years) were randomly assigned to either a social inclusion or a social exclusion condition and completed the corresponding manipulation. Participants then completed a word fragment completion task to evaluate relationship-related thought accessibility. A moderated regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the main effect of social inclusion/exclusion on relationship-related thought accessibility as well as the interaction effect of social inclusion/exclusion and extroversion on relationship-related …

Youth Relational History Affecting Mentoring Relationship Quality, Brittanie Nicole Gage

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Black youth in low-income communities have a heightened risk of exposure to poverty-related stressors, increasing the risk of poor youth outcomes. Proven moderately effective, youth mentoring programs were created to decrease the risk of negative outcomes and promote positive development. A primary relational experience, the parent – child relationship shapes a youth’s relational history and influences their relational capacity, or ability to connect with a mentor. The mentoring relationship quality (MRQ) is a key determinant in mentoring success. Emerging research suggests youth with moderate relational histories experience the most benefits from mentoring, demonstrating a curvilinear relationship.

This study investigated two …

Information Diffusion In Online Social Networks: A Simulation Experiment, Maxwell Jacob Blum

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

The advent of online social networks has completely transformed the way we communicate, with news, opinions, and ideas now spreading faster than ever before (Guille et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2022). That online social networks have a profound impact on the spread of information suggests further investigation of the relationship between network structure and information diffusion (Light & Moody, 2020). This honors thesis investigates degree assortativity – a measure of large-scale network structure that has often only been a footnote in relevant literature on infor- mation diffusion in online social networks – and its effect on the speed of …

Deciphering French Decentralization Efforts And Economic Attractivity Through The Evaluation Of France's Lyonnaise Region, Magwyer Grimes, Kimberley Brown

University Honors Theses

France has long been a country politically and economically dominated by its largest city: Paris. This dynamic seemed natural for an absolute monarchy and a subsequent empire that sought centralized administration, but in the second half of the twentieth century there were increasing calls for regional solidarity and a more active industrial policy to develop metropolitan France beyond the Paris basin. The objectives of the French government seem two-fold: to lean on and expand the economic strength of the Paris region while increasing the economic dynamism of the various other large agglomerations. But in an economy already so dominated by …

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cbt): A Queer Analysis, Elizabeth M. Munk

University Honors Theses

This literature review seeks to understand the history and development of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) within a clinical setting in the United States and other Western institutions. Furthermore, employing a critical eye to CBT will highlight areas of future intervention. This will be done by emphasizing the importance of a queer lens and starting to integrate theory and analytics to address potential gaps and lacks within the therapy process of CBT. Theories like Donna Haraway's situated knowledges, Jasbir Puar's assemblage theory, and Sara Ahmed’s affect theory will then be discussed in the context of MAST, a variation of CBT. I'm …

Traits Of Leadership, Alinta Magdalene Ali

University Honors Theses

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the correlation between leadership styles, introverted and extroverted traits, and their impact on effective leadership within the workplace. The first section defines leadership and introduces leadership styles: servant, transformational, identity, autocratic, democratic, and coaching. The discussion delves into the distinctive characteristics, advantages, and obstacles associated with each leadership style, highlighting how each style prioritizes personalized guidance and assistance for team members. The second section explores the introvert and extrovert aspects and how they complement each other in the workplace. Effective leaders possess the ability to adjust their personality traits, exhibiting both social …

Motor Vehicle Theft In Portland Oregon, Io Nicholls

University Honors Theses

Residents and stakeholders are increasingly concerned about trends related to motor vehicle theft (MVT) in Portland, Oregon. Currently there are no in-depth studies regarding this crime. This analysis identifies trends in vehicle theft over time, compares Portland to other similar cities, and assesses demographics of neighborhoods with high counts and rates of MVT. First, a broad overview of MVT over a 21-year period spanning from 2000 to 2021 provides context. Then, a more focused analysis of this crime in Portland during more recent years provides information about offenders, types of vehicles stolen, and hot spots where vehicles are most likely …

Son Otros Tiempos: Generational Experiences Of Male Friendships Amongst Mexican And Mexican American Men, Marisela Rodríguez Molina

Dissertations and Theses

Culturally specific work with Latinx men has also discussed the way Latinx masculinities are being redefined by younger generations. Grounded in Chicana Feminist epistemologies, I use Gloria Anzaldua's borderlands framework to analyze data from 20 interviews with sons and their father figures in understanding experience of masculinities within the context of male friendships. Differences between father's and son's experiences can be attributed to social context in which men are socialized and their borderlands experiences. Findings illustrate how understandings of masculinities represent a melding of cultural values between the dominant individualistic perspective in the U.S. and the collectivist perspective from men's …

Improving Communication Access With Deaf People Through Nursing Simulation: A Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration, Jamie L. Mccartney Ph.D., Tracy Gidden, Jennifer Biggs, Kathy Geething, Karl Kosko Ph.D.

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

Baccalaureate nursing and sign language interpreting students participated in a pediatric discharge simulation with a deaf person playing the role of the baby’s parent. At the conclusion of the simulation, participants were emailed a consent letter and a link to a 17-item questionnaire developed by the authors. Responses were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, whereby nonparametric statistics were calculated to examine Likert-scale items. A Mann-Whitney test statistic was calculated, instead of an independent samples t-test, given the smaller sample in the current study (n = 26). A question was posed to participants that evaluated their self-perception of the effectiveness of …

The Moderating Effect Of Positive Sexual Self-Concept On The Relationship Between Disability Impact And Satisfaction With Life., Alexandra M. Kriofske Mainella, Bianca Tocci

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

Research has been produced assessing both the concept of Life Satisfaction and the impact of disability. However, there has been a lack of research assessing the intersection of disability, sexuality, and life satisfaction. This study sought to understand the relationship between improved sexual self-concept, life satisfaction, and disability impact. Sexual self-concept was examined as a moderator of the relationship between disability impact and life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that improved sexual self-concept among those living with a disability will have a positive and correlating effect on life satisfaction. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the relationship between disability impact and satisfaction …

“She Was No Taller Than Your Thumb. So She Was Called Thumbelina”: Gender, Disability, And Visual Forms In Hans Christian Andersen’S “Thumbelina” (1835), Hannah J. Helm

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

This article explores representations of femininity and disability in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “Thumbelina” (1835) and select examples of his paper art. In this article, I argue that, on one level, the fairy tale and Andersen’s own paper cuttings uphold feminine and ableist norms. However, on another level, these literary and visual forms simultaneously work to destabilise social prejudices and challenge bodily normativity. I explore how characters and themes associated with the fairy tale and paper art can be (re)read in strength-based ways. In the story, Thumbelina experiences the world through her smallness, and key themes including accessibility, physical …

Enigmatic, Tragic, Crip; Or, Crip Time In Sophocles’S Oedipus And Aristotle’S Poetics, Maxwell Gray

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

Tragedy represents a classical literary genre the field of disability studies often prefers not to approach too closely, lest disability also be called a tragedy by association. At the same time, my thinking is organized around my personal experience of chronic illness, pain, and disability that appear in early adulthood, when it’s maybe least expected and most difficult to comprehend; or, in a word, tragic. I turn to the literary genre of classical Greek tragedy to think about/with more enigmatic and tragic forms of disability and crip temporality. In particular, I read Sophocles’s classic tragedy Oedipus and Aristotle’s foundational interpretation …

Judging The Body: Disability, Class And Citizen Identity—A Case Study From An Ancient Greek Lawcourt, Justin L. Biggi

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

This paper aims to showcase how one person's disabled identity—that of the unnamed defendant of the legal speech Lysias 24, who was accused of faking his disability to obtain social security payments—interacted with wider conceptions of citizen identity and citizenship in 5^th century BCE Athens. This paper brings a much-needed intersectional approach to the speech: by viewing the speaker's disabled identity as shaped by his economical status (and vice-versa), this in turn shapes the way we can interpret his experience of citizen identity, as well as his sense of belonging to a citizen body. Recent approaches in critical theory …

“Handicap Removed”: An Alternative Path To The Social Model, Craig M. Rustici

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

This article identifies an expression of a social model of disability in a 1966 film promoting Hofstra University’s Program for the Higher Education of the Handicapped and traces that model back to books published by the pioneering rehabilitation physician Henry H. Kessler in 1935 and 1947, decades before the UPIAS (Union of the Physically Impaired against Segregation) Fundamental Principles of Disability (1976). In light of Kessler’s articulation of social and minority models, identification of contrasting religious, charity and medical models, and discussion of disability stigma, this article reassesses Ruth O’Brien’s critique, in Crippled Justice (2001), of Kessler and the twentieth-century …

Entire Issue Vol. 11 No. 2, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

1. SLIS Director's Report By Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director
2. Spotlight—Faculty, Spotlight—Alum
3. From the GAs, Congratulations SLIS Students, Congratulations SLIS Alum
4. A Collection Analysis of the Tana Hoban Papers in the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection
5. The role the LGBTQ+ Community Plays in Preserving Their Own History: The Rise of LGBTQIA+ Grassroots Archives
6. Text Complexity in Selected Newbery Medal Winners
7. The National Gallery of Art Library: A Collection Analysis of an Art Library’s Digital Collection
8. Storyville: A Study of Artifacts
9. Social Media Engagement Across Public Libraries in Monroe County: A Webometric Study
10. Selection of Fall 2022 Master’s Project …

Selection Of Fall 2022 Master’S Project Posters, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Students are required to create academic research posters on their capstone research project and present in class. The following selection of the Master’s Project Capstone Posters are from LIS 695 in the Fall of 2022. It includes 12 posters selected for their appeal.

Social Media Engagement Across Public Libraries In Monroe County: A Webometric Study, Danielle D’Agostino

SLIS Connecting

Social media has continued to develop and change rapidly since its inception. In order to best meet the information needs of users and gather as much visibility as possible, new platforms have been created and older platforms have been updated to improve usage. Because of these changes, engagement with newer, yet highly popular social media platforms such as TikTok has not been studied as widely as more traditional platforms such as Facebook. Additionally, post formats, character limits, and post content can vary greatly by platform. Comparing multiple social media platforms in this study allowed for a wider view of how …

Storyville: A Study Of Artifacts, Martha Quinn Fentress

SLIS Connecting

Operating from 1897 to 1917, sixteen blocks from the French Quarter district of New Orleans, Louisiana, several buildings were created to establish a legal red light district known as “Storyville.” The area was named after its creator, Alderman Sidney Story, who enacted the applicable ordinances and helped to establish the district. The creation of Storyville was meant to bring regulation to the sex trade and organized crime. The creation of the sixteen blocks of the district was influenced by a diverse range of experiences, ranging from cheap "cribs," vibrant music halls, saloons, and lavish mansions filled with "top dollar" ladies. …

The National Gallery Of Art Library: A Collection Analysis Of An Art Library’S Digital Collection, Rose Pendleton

SLIS Connecting

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the digital collection of the National Gallery of Art’s library with a focus on the diversity of topics, artists, and themes. This study could be a resource to librarians responsible for digital collections and art librarians that want to ensure that their digital collections are seen as diverse. Additionally, this study adds to the body of scholarly literature related to art libraries, digital collections, and diversity, and the research conducted could be used to further analyze other digital collections.

Text Complexity In Selected Newbery Medal Winners, Stephanie N. Harrelson

SLIS Connecting

Children who read for pleasure, as well as for information, do so because they have first learned the simple mechanics of reading. Once the mechanics are in place, children seek out stories that are of interest to them. Reading engaging materials holds the interest of children. As readers encounter increasingly complex reading material, their comprehension and reading abilities increase. It is important that children's literature is not only entertaining, but also complex in age-appropriate ways (Juel, 1988).

This study looks at the text complexity of Newbery Medal winners. The books selected for this study cover a 100-year period (1922-2022). The …

The Role The Lgbtq+ Community Plays In Preserving Their Own History: The Rise Of Lgbtqia+ Grassroots Archives, Abigail Hollingsworth

SLIS Connecting

This study conducted a collection analysis of five LGBTQ+ grassroots archives located in North America to exhibit how marginalized communities build and preserve their history on their own. By assessing the different collections for certain metrics and demographics such as the number of materials representing different aspects of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the types of materials prioritized from t-shirts to posters and books, this study highlights the role these community archives play in the representation of marginalized histories. By documenting these types of metrics, this study aimed to exhibit how these community-led archives collect materials, and what it …

A Collection Analysis Of The Tana Hoban Papers In The De Grummond Children’S Literature Collection, Constance Martin

SLIS Connecting

The de Grummond holdings of Tana Hoban’s work contain items she donated from 1982 to 1991 as well as copies of her books received from other donors. These materials include correspondence; biographical materials; her diaries; and some of her work as a commercial photographer, including photos and advertisements. There are also promotional items for her books and items related to a 1973 educational filmstrip series for which Hoban served on the creative development team (Brown, 2021; (“Tana Hoban Papers,” n.d.). Copies of physical books are augmented by book dummies she created for books that were published later and some that …

From The Gas: Congratulations, Publications, Presentations, Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D., Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Updates from the students and alumni and faculty publications and presentations.

Spotlights: Faculty, Alumni, Course, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

An update on Mr. Edmand Pace, an introduction to Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe, and news about LIS 654. E-Resources Management.

Slis Director's Report, Stacy L. Creel, Ph.D.

SLIS Connecting

Welcome to the Spring/Summer issue of SLIS Connecting. It has been a busy time here in SLIS. This is the overview of what has been happing here at the School of Library and Information Science at Southern Miss. This issue features six research projects along with our regular columns.